Driving belt



Dec. 21 1926. 1,611,829 A. L. FREEDLANDER DRIVING BELT 7 Filed June 14,1922 2 h 1 I Jwvma To e Dec. 21 1926. 1,611,829 v A. L. FREEDLANDERDRIVING BELT Filed June 14. 1922 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 21,1926.:

ABRAHAM L. FREEDLANDER, OF DAYTON, ASSIGNMENTS, 0F THREE-FOURTHS'TOPATENT OFFICE.

'OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE THE DAYTON RUBBER MANUFACTURING.

COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO, AND ONE-FOURTH TOGENERAL MOTORS RESEARCH CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORA- TION OFDELAWARE.

pr Applicationfiled June 14,

This invention embraces an improved driving belt,'designed particularlyas a fan belt for use in automobiles, and a method of manufacturing orproducing such a belt.

That branch ofmy invention which is embodied in the article orbelt'consists,;essentially, of a belt com rised of a plurality ofcircumferential mem ers-an inner or compression member, an intermediateor central member and an outer or tension member, each member beingfabricated in this wise:

The compression member composed of soft vulcanized rubber mixedwithcotton, wool or other fiber, the fibers preferably runningcrosswise, and fashioned into corrugations on the inner circumference.

The central member composed of rubberized cord fabric cut straight orparallel to thecords and in a pre-stretched condition, due to havingbeen materially stretched before being combined with the other members.

The tension member composed of rubberized fabric cut on the bias or atan angle fi p si inner m will;

and in a pie-stretched condition, due also to ing combined with theother members.

This results in the completed belt being substantially non-stretchable.As these fabric elements are of different characteristics and as eachhas a difierent function to perform when embodied in the complete belt,the percentageor degree of stretch to which each is subjected willdifier from the per centage 'or degree to which the others aresubjected. 7

That branch of 'my invention which is embodied inthe method of producingthis belt consists, essentially, in first fabricating the inner orcompression member by mix.- ing with soft vulcanizable rubber, cotton,wool or other fiber, with the fibers positioned essentially crosswise ofthe sheet or. strip, and fashioning the inner circumference withcorrugations; in fabricatin the intermediate or central member by ruberizing a sheet or strip of cord fabric, with the cords lengthwise ofthe sheet or strip; in. materially stretching such sheet or strip sothat its stretchability, when it is embodied DRIVING- BELT.

1322. Serial No. 568,156.

in the completed belt, will have been largeless I'OllS by first windingthis compression,

member on a, forming drum or structure; in then winding such centralmember on the already wound compression-member; in

winding such tension member on the already wound central member; andfinally in. vulcanizing, as by steam heat, the resulting rolls ofmaterial so fabricated and wound one upon the other.

The result of my invention in its two as pects is a driving belt whichis substantially non-stretchable circumferentially; which, because ofthe construction referred to, notably the corrugated combined rubber andmore readil bend and conform to and grip having been materiallystretched before bethe formation Ofthe p l y on Which the belt is used,and enable the sides of the belt to more perfectly bind against thewalls of the belt-grooves formed in the pulleys, and which will not losesuch elfects'by any material subsequent. stretching, and yet will befirm and nearly rigid transversely.

In a, the accompan ing drawings forming a part of this speci cation:

lEig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a ten sion and winding apparatus usedin carryingout my method; 1

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a press for forming the projections andspaces of the compression .member of the belt;

' Fig. 3 is a detail enlarged view of a 'portion of the compressionmember showing such projections and spaces; v

Fig. lis a cross sectional view of the belt;

Fig. 5 is a view of a piece of fabric cut on the bias;

Fig. 6 is a like View of a piece of mixed vulcanized rubber and canvasfiber, utilized in formin the inner or compression member of the belt;

' plete.

, on-the compression member, the winding I 'ratus employed for windingand tensiomng l Fig. 7 is a perspective view-of the winding drum andthe'toothed spool thereon with a roll of beltin on the latter; Fig. 8 isa view of the winding a roll of belting thereen; and

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the .belt con spool and 'I ill-firstdescribe my method because it results in the production of the belt. Inthis way my invention will be more readily understood. 7 1

Referring first to the apparatus I prefer to employ in carrying-out thestretching and winding steps of my method, the nu'merall v designates aroll upon which is wound, first, a quantity of material which is tocomprise the compression member, and when thls is consumed then aquantity of the material which is to comprise the central member, andwhen this in turn is consumed, then a quantity of ,the material which isto comprise th tensionmember. Or there may he, say, thr e rolls, such as1, each roll carrying a quantity of the respective materials and eachroll in turn mounted in the machine.

' As shown in Fig. 1, the material ltto' constitute the compressionmember has already been wound on the spool carried by the drum, and thematerial 2 constituting the central member is'inthe act of being woundbeing nearly complete, as usually three layers are sufficient. Later inthe process the material 2?, comprising the tension member willbewound'on the central member.

As illustrating the operation of the appathe materials itwill be seenthat the material comprising the central 'member, generallydes1gnat-ed-2, passes overa guide roller 3, a flattening platform 4,another guide roller 5 and a tension'roiler 6. The shaft 7 ofthisllatter roller is put under different degrees of friction through ascrew 8 and its friction block 9, to cause the roller 6 to revolve withmore or less resistance. In this way the required tension forthe/central and tension members is put upon the material as 7 itundergoes the winding step.

-A drum 10 having a gear -wheel '11 is mounted on a shaft 12 and rotatedby an idler gear 13 driven b a driving gear Men the shaft 15 of an,ectric orother motor generally indicated at 16; On this drum is fittedaremovable corrugated spoell'i. The mate'rialsare wound directly on thisspool which is carried by the drum, the".- spool 'beingremovable withthem as a whole, the corrugations of the spool receive the proa cylinder19 1 ntowhicl1'steam is introduced,

of .the belt is to be composed. This mner surface is laid upon thecorrugated forming plate 25 and when the plate is elevated until thiscompression member contacts withthe stationary head 26, the teeth of theformmg plate imbed themselves into the soft rubber and form projectionsand spaces constituting the corrugations on this belt member. See Figs.2 and 3 of the drawings, the

latter showing. the result of this treatment, in which condition thecompression member is subsequently mounted on the roller land fed to androlled upon the corrugated spool of the drum, the teeth on the spoolcorresponding in size and position to the spaces and projections whichform the corrugations on the belt member.

A @ife which is utilized cutting the roll of belting into the in ividualbelts forms another invention inde endent of this one and is the subjectof an application'for a patent-filed by Amos Puterbaugh June 19, 1922,Serial No. 569310. 1

It will now be seen that when the motor is putinmotion the several gearswill rotate the drum with its spool, so that the different compressionmember is fabricatedby 'miiring soft vulcanizable rubber with fiber,preferably of cotton or wool. This mixing-of-the rubber and fiber ispreferably performed by a rubber mixing mill-a pair of rolls, one ofwhich travels faster than the other. The

body of rubber so mixed with the fiber is runthrough .a calendermachine" which formsit into a sheet in which the fibers are found totend to position themselves lengthwise of the strip. After the sheet isformed it is cut 011' in strips crosswise of the sheet so that thefibers will stand crosswise of the strip. The effect of running therubber through such calender machine is to deprive it of any realstretchability lengthwise,- but leave it unaffected crosswise.Therefore, the jections and enter the-spaces formed by the strips arecut crosswise of the sheet and this corrugations on the inner surface ofthe material of which the compression member llO lateral stretchabilityin the sheet becomes longitudinal stretchability in the strips. A

canvas strip 1 is preferably also laid over 'the rubber on'the innersurfaces so as to cover the corrugations. j

a. finished and homogeneous "structure.

The central member 2 is fabricated by taking a sheet or strip of cordfabric and rubberizing it in the well known way of rubberizin fabric.The strips are cut so that the cords run lengthwise the strip,

sometimes calleda straight or parallel cut. The fabrication of thetension member 2 is done by rubberizing a sheet of fabr1c cut on thebias, see Fig. 5, at say an angle of 45 essential stretchability of thecord fabric having been taken outby the stretching-operation whichprecedes, the actual winding.

The characteristic of thetension member is also'strength and substantialnon-stretch-,

ability due to the fabric having been pre stretched.

It will now be seen "that my method consists in fabricating,substantially in the manner. above described, the material for the inneror compression member, wlth its corrugations and quality ofyieldability; in fab "ricating' the material for the central member,likewise in the way above pointed out,

- withits practically. non-stretchable quality;

in fabricating the material for. the tension member, also in the mannerpointed out, with its quality of practical non-stretchability, so thatthese two members will resist the tension they are ut under in use; insub-. jecting these respective materials of the central and tensionmembers to a tensioning or stretching operation and in'.winding thethree elements, successively, on the drum,

' first winding the material-of the compression member, and properlyuniting the ends of enough material to girth the spool;- in

then tensioning and winding the material composing the central memberwith as many laps as desired, saythree, which is preferable; and finallin tensioning and winding the material 0 the tension member again withas many three. y

When the belt has been thus formed and built up it is in'the form of aroll of belting material, as best seen-in Fig. 8. In this state it isvulcanized by the usual vulcanizing process employed in the manufactureof pneumatic rubber tires. The elfect of the vulcanizationis to causethe several members, and the. laps of material composing them, all torun together or unite to make laps as desired, preferably 1 strument; 1nwind ng the second on the first; I

Referring now to the belt that results from this method, attention iscalled to Figs. 4 and 9 whelethe same is illustrated in its completecondition, having been cut or sevcred from the roll of belting on thespool.

This belt so made has the compression memher, the central member andthe, tension member, characterized by the facttthat the compressionmember has corrugations and is highly yieldable in respect to the rubberingredient, whileboth thecentral and tension members. are practically orsubstantially non-stretchable.

Having thus'ful-ly described my invention; what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- 1. The herein described method of makingan endless roll of drivingbelt, material from which individual belts'are to be cut, conslsting infabricating material for the comprcssion member including corrugatingthe e inner surface; in fabricating other material for the centralmember; in fabricating still other material for the tension member; in

re-stretching the central ,and tension mem- Jers; in Winding on asuitable instrument the material of the compression member; in

winding on the latter thematerial for the" central member; in'windingjon the latter the material for'the tension member; and in 1vulcanizing the roll thus built up. I

2. The herein describedmethod of mak ing an endless roll'of drivingIbelt material from which individual belts are to be cut, consisting infabricating the compression member of soft vulcanizable rubber mixedwith fiber, including corrugating the inner surface; in fabricating the\central member,

of rubberized cord fabric; in fabricating the tension member c on the t;in winding thethird pnthe secrubberized fabric; in w1nd 1ng the first ofthese materials on a rotatmgjijstrument; in winding'the second 0nd; andin vulcanizing the roll so built up. I

3. The herein described methodof. making an endless roll of drivingbeltmaterial from -J which individual belts are to be cut, consisting infabricating the compression member of soft vulcanizable rubber mixedwith fiber, including corrugating the inner surface; in

fabricating the central member of rubberized cord fabric; in fabricatingthe tension member of rubberized fabric; in winding thev first ofthese'materials on a rotating in- 4. The herein described method ofmaking an endless roll of driving belt material from which individualbelts are .to be cut, consisting of fabricating the compression memberof soft rubber and fiber, including corru- 4 gating the innersurface; infabricating the central member of rubberized cord fabric; in fabricatingthe tension member of rubberized fabriocut on the bias; in taking thematerial for the central and tension memthereon that of the centralmember; and

hers and subjecting them to a stretching op-.

oration and winding operation simultaneousl v conducted;-infirstiwinding the material of the compression member; in Wind ngfinallyv winding on the latter the tension member; and in vulcanizingthe composite belt roll thus formed.-

5. The herein described method ofmaking aroll of driving belt material,consisting of a compressible member formed of rubberand fiber withcorrugations on the in nor surface; of a central member composed ofrubberized cord fabric out parallel; and

a tension member of rubberized fabric cut on the bias; in firstapplyingon a winding instrumentaht the material of the compression mem er, thenthe material of the 1 central member on the compression member,

and then the material of the tension memher on the central member; inpre-stretching' the material of the central and tension members; and invulcanizing the Whole to form a complete roll of belting.

6. The herein described method of making an endless roll of driving beltmaterial from which individual belts are to be out, consisting infabricating the compression member, including corrugating the innersurface;

in fabricating othermaterial'for the central member; in fabricatingstill other mate-' rial for the tension member; in Winding on a suitableinstrument the materialof the compression member; in winding on thelattcrthe material'of the central member; in v ture.

ABRAHAM L. FREEIjLANDERQ signa

